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James Love
James Love (17 March 1721-22 - 1774) was the pseudonym of English poet, playwright, and actor James Dance. Life Love, the eldest son of George Dance, city of London surveyor and architect, was born on 17 March 1721-2. His brother was Sir Nathaniel Dance-Holland.Robinson, 11. James entered Merchant Taylors' School in 1732, and 5 years later was admitted a member of St. John's College, Oxford. But he left the university without graduating. Having assumed the name of Love, he contrived to attract the favourable notice of Sir Robert Walpole by replying, in a smart poem entitled "Yes, they are; what then?" to a satirical piece, "Are these things so?" directed against the minister and attributed (wrongly) to Alexander Pope. Sir Robert, however, does not seem to have done much more for his advocate than feed him with false hopes. At length, bankrupt and disappointed, Love betook himself to the stage and to the composition of light comedies. About 1740 he wrote and published an heroic poem on Cricket, which is interesting as throwing light upon the history of that popular game, and his earliest contribution to dramatic literature was a piece entitled Pamela, published in 1742. He performed at the theaters of Dublin and Edinburgh, and resided for some years as manager in the latter city, where (1754) he issued a volume of poems. In 1762 he was invited to Drury Lane Theatre, and retained his connection with that house during the rest of his life, part of which was spent at Richmond, where, with his brother's help, he built a new theatre, involving him in considerable loss. Love was also the brother of George Dance the Younger, who took on the same occupation as his father. It is probable that both the Younger and the Elder helped to construct the Richmond Theatre. According to Dorothy Stroud, "references to the building are vague and two of them, while agreeing as to sponsors, differ as to the name of the designer. A third gives it to David Garrick and it is evident that there was a good deal of confusion as to the various participants."Quoted in Performances at Richmond's Theatre Royale: 15th June 1765 2008. Love died early in 1774, and it cannot be said that either as an actor or a writer he secured or deserved much success. Falstaff was his best character; his attempts to improve Shakespeare and Beaumont and Fletcher were wretched. Recognition He is famous within sporting circles for his Cricket: An heroic poem (1744), whose line "The strokes re-echo o'er the spacious ground" has been quoted in the Oxford English Dictionary. Publications *''Cricket: An heroic poem''. London: W. Bickerton, 1744; London: privately published, 1770. *''Poems on Several Occasions''. Edinburgh: R. Fleming, 1754. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:James Love, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Sep. 3, 2017. Plays *''Pamela'', comedy, 1742. *''The Witches'', pant. 1762. *''Rites of Hecate'', pant. 1764. *''The Hermit'', pant. 1766. *''The Village Wedding'', 1767. *''Timon of Athens'', altered, 1768. *'The Ladies' Frolic, 1770. *''City Madam'', 1771. *''Rule a Wife and have a Wife,' altered, 1771.'' See also *List of British poets *Cricket poetry References . Wikisource, Web, Sep. 3, 2017. Notes External links ;About Dance, James Category:1721 births Category:1774 deaths Category:English dramatists and playwrights Category:Cricket historians and writers Category:Cricket culture Category:English cricketers of 1701 to 1786 Category:English male dramatists and playwrights Category:English male poets Category:18th-century poets Category:English-language poets Category:English poets Category:Poets